Friday night Sarah Palin made her long-talked-about controversial appearance at California State University Stanislaus. Her demands and the school’s reluctance to reveal them became a political football. When California State Senator Leland Yee said the public had a right to know how much the public school was spending, he received racist, homophobic, and scatological messages from Palin fans. A trash bin with information about Palin’s appearance had been found by students, leading Palin to take a swipe at them.

“Students who spent their valuable, precious time diving through dumpsters before this event in order to silence someone … what a wasted resource,” she told the crowd dining in the campus cafeteria.

“A suggestion for those Dumpster divers: Instead of trying to tell people to sit down and shut up … spend some time telling people like our president to finally stand up,” she said.

The material recovered by the students, which detailed perks such as first-class airfare for two and deluxe hotel accommodations, prompted California Attorney General Jerry Brown to launch an investigation into the finances of the university’s foundation arm and allegations that the nonprofit violated public disclosure laws.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown came under fire from Palin for looking into questions arising from her visit.

“Jerry Brown and friends, come on. This is California,” Palin retorted. “Do you not have anything else to do?”

The California Democrat said Palin was wrong to politicize the inquiry, which he said would be objective.

“I don’t think she understands the process,” he said Friday. “It’s about the operation of the foundation to see if they handled things professionally.”

Protesters outside the speech objected to the lack of openness given the school’s budget cuts, chanting, “Open the books!” and “Spill, Baby, Spill!” Chain link fences were put up to protect parts of the campus.

“We cannot believe the stuff that has gone on with our campus over Sarah Palin’s visit,” said Alicia Lewis, 26, who was one of the team that retrieved the paperwork from a trash container in April. “Now they’re fencing the campus off? It’s outrageous.”